Original inquiry questions for 20 percent project—Making Wine Jam
1. If I use the grapes for jam, how difficult and painful will it be to remove the seeds?
2. How do I remove the seeds?
3. What materials do I need to make jam?
4. What are the costs involved?
5. How long does it take to make jam?
6. Do I have the right type of grapes to make jam?
7. How long does the jam keep? Does it need to be preserved?
8. How much jam can be made using my 40-50 bunches of grapes?
9. How do I store the jam?
10. Do I need special jars?
2. How do I remove the seeds?
3. What materials do I need to make jam?
4. What are the costs involved?
5. How long does it take to make jam?
6. Do I have the right type of grapes to make jam?
7. How long does the jam keep? Does it need to be preserved?
8. How much jam can be made using my 40-50 bunches of grapes?
9. How do I store the jam?
10. Do I need special jars?
revised inquiry questions for 20 percent project—Making Wine Jam, Jelly, and Marmalade
1. What materials to and I need to make the jams, jellies, and/or marmalade?
2. What type of canning jars do I need to in order to preserve the jam?
3. If I use my wine grapes, should I make jam or jelly?
4. How difficult and painful will it be to remove the seeds?
5. How do I remove the seeds?
6. How much jam or jelly can be made using my 40-50 bunches of grapes? Do I need to source other varieties of grapes in order to have enough?
7. What temperature do I use to destroy the bacteria and make the jellied product safe to eat?
8. How do I do the canning?
9. How do I know if the canning worked?
10. What method or process should I use to can? My mother used to use a layer of wax? Is this still popular today?
2. What type of canning jars do I need to in order to preserve the jam?
3. If I use my wine grapes, should I make jam or jelly?
4. How difficult and painful will it be to remove the seeds?
5. How do I remove the seeds?
6. How much jam or jelly can be made using my 40-50 bunches of grapes? Do I need to source other varieties of grapes in order to have enough?
7. What temperature do I use to destroy the bacteria and make the jellied product safe to eat?
8. How do I do the canning?
9. How do I know if the canning worked?
10. What method or process should I use to can? My mother used to use a layer of wax? Is this still popular today?
Answers to inquiry questions —Decided on Wine Jam
Note that some of these answers relate to more than one inquiry question
1. Materials needed to make the jam include: canning jars, pectin, wine grapes, baker's sugar, lemon juice, a scale, spoons, food mill, and a canning kit to make it a bit easier.
2. Canning jars needed to preserve jam include: Mason jars with lids that seal.
a. There are European and American style jars and also, jars for everyday use that are not used for preserving the product.
b. With the round European jars, the lids can be reused.
2. Since I wanted to use my the wine grapes I grew, it is better to make jam to get the most out of the fruit. I discovered in my research that most jellies do not require the actual fruit and need pectin in order to set. Although pectin might not be needed this for jam, I decided to use it with my first batch. Can purchase commercial pectin at most supermarkets. Look for sure-gel low sugar pectin from the grocery store. An alternative to pectin is to use tart apples. I also learned that if making a marmalade, you do not need pectin as there is enough in the fruit.
3. Decided to make both wine jam and not jelly since I like the idea of using a lot of fruit and using natural ingredients. I might make marmalade as well, although I prefer jam to marmalade in terms of taste.
4. and 5. With wine jam, I do not need to remove the seeds by hand. Instead, I can use a food mill to press the grapes. The food mill allowed me to get the most out of my grapes. I was able to use the juice and the pulp, without the seeds. If making jelly, I would need to press the grapes and strain them. When making jelly, you can use juice or wine, but do not require the actual fruit. If you do not have a food mill, the fruit from the skin and seeds can also be done using a blender on low. If making jelly, you need the juice from the grapes without the skins and seeds. With jam, you can leave the skins and seeds. The food mill really helped streamline this process. I would have not thought to get a food mill had I not joined a canning community, watched videos on wine jam making, or spoke with a friend who had made jams before.
6. 1 pound of grapes equals about 12 ounces of jam. I used about 3 pounds of grapes for each batch of jam. For my first batch of jam, I filled three jars and for the second batch I filled three jars. I ended up sourcing a few grapes from the farmers market, but the majority were my garden syrah wine grapes (5 pounds garden grapes and 1 pound of sourced grapes).
7. Jars need to be sterilized for about 20 minutes at about a temperature of at least 212 degrees. (You will need an instant read thermometer). The product needs to reach a temperature of 220 degrees. After pouring product into the jars, leave enough space for proper seal once lid is put on. (This will vary depending on the product you are canning. With jam, it's about a 1/4 inch). Don’t put lid on too tight or too lose. After filling the jars, bring the jars back up to at least 212 degrees for 10 minutes from the time the water starts to boil.
8. Purchased a canning kit that includes a funnel like device for easy filling of the jars, a special strainer that is woven tightly, and most important a device to remove the jars from the hot stockpot. Depending on how series this project becomes, I might invest in a special pot for heating the product to afford even temperature and avoid burning the jam or jelly. I ended up getting the special canning pot with the rack, but discovered I needed to be careful not to burn my stove as the bottom of the pot is quite wide.
9. Once cool, the lid will be compressed. If not, it isn’t sealed. There are a few tests to tell if the product is sealed. The first is to tap on the top with a spoon and if it sounds dull, it isn't sealed. The second is to press on the top with your fingers and if the lid pops back up, it didn't seal. Third, if the lid is bulging, it did not seal. For my first batch of jam, I chose not to can. For the second batch, I did and the canning worked.
10. I decided to use a modern method for my first few batches of jam. Plan to still look into the history of jam making and the traditional materials used.
2. Canning jars needed to preserve jam include: Mason jars with lids that seal.
a. There are European and American style jars and also, jars for everyday use that are not used for preserving the product.
b. With the round European jars, the lids can be reused.
2. Since I wanted to use my the wine grapes I grew, it is better to make jam to get the most out of the fruit. I discovered in my research that most jellies do not require the actual fruit and need pectin in order to set. Although pectin might not be needed this for jam, I decided to use it with my first batch. Can purchase commercial pectin at most supermarkets. Look for sure-gel low sugar pectin from the grocery store. An alternative to pectin is to use tart apples. I also learned that if making a marmalade, you do not need pectin as there is enough in the fruit.
3. Decided to make both wine jam and not jelly since I like the idea of using a lot of fruit and using natural ingredients. I might make marmalade as well, although I prefer jam to marmalade in terms of taste.
4. and 5. With wine jam, I do not need to remove the seeds by hand. Instead, I can use a food mill to press the grapes. The food mill allowed me to get the most out of my grapes. I was able to use the juice and the pulp, without the seeds. If making jelly, I would need to press the grapes and strain them. When making jelly, you can use juice or wine, but do not require the actual fruit. If you do not have a food mill, the fruit from the skin and seeds can also be done using a blender on low. If making jelly, you need the juice from the grapes without the skins and seeds. With jam, you can leave the skins and seeds. The food mill really helped streamline this process. I would have not thought to get a food mill had I not joined a canning community, watched videos on wine jam making, or spoke with a friend who had made jams before.
6. 1 pound of grapes equals about 12 ounces of jam. I used about 3 pounds of grapes for each batch of jam. For my first batch of jam, I filled three jars and for the second batch I filled three jars. I ended up sourcing a few grapes from the farmers market, but the majority were my garden syrah wine grapes (5 pounds garden grapes and 1 pound of sourced grapes).
7. Jars need to be sterilized for about 20 minutes at about a temperature of at least 212 degrees. (You will need an instant read thermometer). The product needs to reach a temperature of 220 degrees. After pouring product into the jars, leave enough space for proper seal once lid is put on. (This will vary depending on the product you are canning. With jam, it's about a 1/4 inch). Don’t put lid on too tight or too lose. After filling the jars, bring the jars back up to at least 212 degrees for 10 minutes from the time the water starts to boil.
8. Purchased a canning kit that includes a funnel like device for easy filling of the jars, a special strainer that is woven tightly, and most important a device to remove the jars from the hot stockpot. Depending on how series this project becomes, I might invest in a special pot for heating the product to afford even temperature and avoid burning the jam or jelly. I ended up getting the special canning pot with the rack, but discovered I needed to be careful not to burn my stove as the bottom of the pot is quite wide.
9. Once cool, the lid will be compressed. If not, it isn’t sealed. There are a few tests to tell if the product is sealed. The first is to tap on the top with a spoon and if it sounds dull, it isn't sealed. The second is to press on the top with your fingers and if the lid pops back up, it didn't seal. Third, if the lid is bulging, it did not seal. For my first batch of jam, I chose not to can. For the second batch, I did and the canning worked.
10. I decided to use a modern method for my first few batches of jam. Plan to still look into the history of jam making and the traditional materials used.
Recipes for Wine Jams & Jellies
Decided not to use the wine jelly recipe, as it seemed like something was missing. Also, most jelly recipes do not require the fruit.
Recipe for Wine Jelly #1
Grow it Cook it Can it (2012). Retrieved on September 28, 2014.
Recipe for Wine Jam #2 (This is the recipe I used for my first batch of wine jam, with a few modifications based on research, the canning community I joined, and feedback from a friend)
Reference for Recipe #2
Grape Jam Recipe (2014). Retrieved on October 21, 2014.
Recipe for Wine Jam #3 (Used the same recipe that I used for the first batch, except I added garden basil and 1 cup of red table wine instead of water). The addition of the wine and basil was my own modification. The end result was that the jam did not set as well this time around. The only differences were that the grapes were riper and there was more juice than pulp, and the wine might have made the consistency different. Overall, I thought the first batch tasted better, as you could really taste the fruit, but the second batch was still good. With the second batch, I took the jam through the entire canning process.
Canned Wine Jam on November 17, 2014. Tested to see if Jam Sealed on November 18, 2014.
- Wine grapes
- Sugar
- Lemon juice
- Sure-gel low sugar pectin
- Cheesecloth or a jelly bag
- Half pint jars
Grow it Cook it Can it (2012). Retrieved on September 28, 2014.
Recipe for Wine Jam #2 (This is the recipe I used for my first batch of wine jam, with a few modifications based on research, the canning community I joined, and feedback from a friend)
- 3 pounds of flavorful grapes, concord or otherwise (about 2 quarts). I used my garden grow syrah wine grapes and sourced 1/2 pound of farmer market wine grapes for both batches of jam. (Note: when weighing the grapes, you need to tare to zero on the scale, which means to weigh the grapes using the scale and then subtract the weight of the container holding the grapes before actually weighing the grapes).
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/2 cup of baker's sugar and one additional table spoon)
- 3 tablespoons low sugar pectin (I used Sure Jell Unsweetened Pectin). A friend later recommended using Whole Foods Promona Pectin as it is natural (Made a note to self to try this).
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup lime or lemon juice (I used a 1/4 cup of lemon juice from my garden lemons and one more tablespoon). One whole lemon total.
Reference for Recipe #2
Grape Jam Recipe (2014). Retrieved on October 21, 2014.
Recipe for Wine Jam #3 (Used the same recipe that I used for the first batch, except I added garden basil and 1 cup of red table wine instead of water). The addition of the wine and basil was my own modification. The end result was that the jam did not set as well this time around. The only differences were that the grapes were riper and there was more juice than pulp, and the wine might have made the consistency different. Overall, I thought the first batch tasted better, as you could really taste the fruit, but the second batch was still good. With the second batch, I took the jam through the entire canning process.
Canned Wine Jam on November 17, 2014. Tested to see if Jam Sealed on November 18, 2014.